It was announced Thursday that DeVonte Holloman's career is likely over after he suffered another neck injury

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The Dallas Cowboys locker room got a collective punch to the gut on Thursday when the team learned that second-year linebacker DeVonte Holloman’s career is likely over following a neck injury.

Head coach Jason Garrett made the announcement during his press conference yesterday, adding that this latest injury is related to the spinal contusion that forced Holloman to miss six games during his rookie season.

“I just heard about it maybe three minutes ago,” safety Barry Church told the team’s official website. “That’s devastating, real devastating. But like I said earlier, it’s a neck injury. You can’t really mess around with neck injuries. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you as a young guy.”

Holloman was coming off a rookie season in which he showed flashes of major promise. He finished with 26 tackles and two sacks while appearing in nine games.

“Obviously, here’s a young player I thought had a great future ahead of him,” said veteran tight end Jason Witten. “Really good cover guy. Just can never take it for granted, the opportunity we have to play this game, even in these dog days of camp. Sad to hear that, obviously you want to reach out to him and pull for him... It provides perspective, and we wish him the best.”

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